6 Small Ways To Enjoying Life More

Everyday I read about, hear about, or see people who are not enjoying life. I should know. I can spot a person not enjoying life faster than anyone I know because I used to be one of those guys or gals. In fact, for the majority of my adult life I have not enjoyed it. There was a long time where I was depressed and angry and an even longer time where I was lost in a distant place, far from reality. My anger and depression made life miserable and I hated the best things life was giving me. Enjoying anything had to involve altered consciousness and carefully selected events.

Once I let go of all that was holding me back from enjoying life, things got better. People tell me all the time I look better than I used to. They tell me I seem happier and my attitude has changed. I’m telling you, I was a nasty motherf**ker for a long time. The road I traveled to get where I am now was not easy and it took a long time of self discovery and hard work to find out what was holding me back and how to move past it. This is a quick post I intended to help you see if anything is holding you back and how to let it go.

Remember the saying we all know “It’s the little things that count.”

Here are six small things you can do to enjoy life more:

1. Workout

Yes I own a gym and it’s my job to help people get in shape but here’s the deal; exercise is one of the best things we can do for a happy and more enjoyable life. When we exercise we feel better through a release of various chemicals and when we feel better, we enjoy life more. Our happiness increases and our body works more efficiently, giving us the energy to enjoy life.

What to do:

Exercise for 30 minutes a day. Some times longer. Lift weights, walk, run, do martial arts, go swimming. Move the body and sweat.

2. Read

I truly believe reading is the gateway to all that you want in your life. If you want a million dollars, where else are you going to learn how to earn a million dollars than a book? Aside from apprenticeship and interning or a mentor, reading helps you learn the important things you don’t know. Reading is also a great way to relax and work the imagination and mind out. Reading should never be looked at as boring or a waste of time. The places books or blogs or other articles will take is more vast than you can imagine.

What to do:

Grab a book and read! Set aside 30 minutes a day to read something. Bounce back and forth from fiction to non fiction to biography and more.

3. Find a Hobby

Starting Jiu Jitsu was one of the best things I did for my life in 2015. When I stepped aside from my desk job to focus on raising my children and building my gym I let go of more than work. I let go of being around other people and getting out of the house. Now my days are spent at the gym or at home with my kids. Getting out of the house into the Jiu Jitsu gym helps me unwind my mind and refresh my body. Having a hobby gets us away from the distractions of work, bills, and routine schedules.

What to do:

Find a hobby that you spend a few hours a week doing. A hobby where you can drop what you’re doing and let the mind go into a world of something that soothes the soul and relaxes the body, something that gets you out of routine.

4. Recognize the ego and work with it

When I was unhappy and angry I was letting my ego do the talking. There were ways I wanted things to happen my way and my stress levels went full tilt. My mind was exhausted and I became very ego driven for success and materialistic pleasures. Even when I was working on my spiritual side of things, I couldn’t shake the ego. I wanted to meditate because I wanted XYZ.. instead of meditating to just meditate. My ego was seeking things my spirit didn’t want or need. It created internal conflict.

What to do:

Understand that we are all in a battle with our ego and our true divine self. The ego wants everything to be easy and hates the hard stuff like getting up early, adjusting your schedule on the fly, a flat tire, or being stuck in rush hour traffic. The true self sees these occurrences as life, as the path, the way through the ego and into enlightened ways. The obstacles we face in life can either piss us off and make us miserable or they can be used as stepping-stones into a more relaxed and enjoyable life. How you see life is how you experience life.

5. Write!

One of the biggest life changes happened to me when I started writing in a gratitude journal. My mind was wandering, I couldn’t focus, I was angry about life, people, things I had to do, and very likely severely depressed. There was no motivation to get up off my couch. I felt sucked into a black hole and a dark pit of despair. One day, taking the advice I heard on a podcast, I decided to start keeping a gratitude journal. Each day I would write down three things that I was grateful for. Some of those days it was the same thing over and over, but the process helped me see the little things and led me to enjoying more of life.

What to do:

Grab a notebook and start every morning with writing down three things you are grateful for in your life. Date the entry and that’s it. Repeat this process each day and watch closely to see how things begin to change leading you to a more enjoyable life.

6. Scale Down Your Shit

Want to buy a four hundred thousand dollar house? Maybe that house for two hundred grand will help you enjoy life more. Want to buy a new sixty thousand dollar SUV? Maybe the model that’s twenty grand less will help you live a more enjoyable life. Our finances are the most critical thing, besides the use of our mind for our own happiness, when it comes to enjoying life. The more we want that which we can’t afford, the harder we make it for ourselves. The more we spend, the more we buy, the shit that accumulates that we don’t need all has an energy draining effect on our lives. Most of our first world problems are created by the “never enough” society we live in, the keeping up with the Jones’s life. Scale down your shit, control the cash, and you will tackle the biggest elephant in the room of your enjoyable life.

What to do:

Look around and see what you have. Do you need it all? You might want it, and that’s cool, but if it’s crushing the grip of your financial situation- let it go. When buying big things like a house or a car, notice the ego and notice the true self. Slow down and really consider the purchase. Will it negatively affect your happiness and your ability to enjoy life? If so, it’s a no-brainer.

Summing it up..

When it comes down to it, enjoying life more starts inside your head. If you walk with a mindset of failure or one that is consumed of negativity, you’re going to have a tough time navigating the ups and downs of life. Our mindset is our reality. If you’re happy, feel and believe your happy, and believe and feel that life is good and that you enjoy it, then you will. That is what it comes right down to when we remove the fluff. Enjoy life more by using the mind as your greatest tool. Don’t let it hold you back or stop you from living your life activated. You are strong enough and smart enough to live your best life.